This website provides access to the research results of the VECTORS project, which can be used to support marine management decisions, policies and governance as well as future research and investment.
VECTORS was a large scale project that brought together more than 200 expert researchers from 16 different countries. It examined the significant changes taking place in European seas, their causes, and the impacts they will have on society.

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Please select one or more policies to view the relevant research. If you wish to create a more specific search such as by sea area or institute please use the search bar above.

FilterAlien Invasive Species DirectiveCommon Fisheries PolicyConvention on Biological DiversityDirective on Maritime Spatial Planning and Integrated Coastal Management (forthcoming)Environmental Impact Assessment DirectiveEU Biodiversity StrategyGuidelines for the Control and Management of Ships’ Biofouling to Minimize the Transfer of Invasive Aquatic SpeciesHabitats and Birds DirectiveICZM Protocol to the Barcelona ConventionIntegrated European Maritime Policy (IMP)International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-Fouling Systems on ShipsInternational Convention for the Control and Management of Ship's Ballast Water and SedimentsMarine and Coastal Access ActMarine Strategy Framework DirectiveStrategic Environmental Assessment DirectiveWater Framework Directive

With the development of marine activities such as energy, maritime traffic and the increase of areas reserved for nature conservation, the space available to fishing is shrinking. Because the closure of areas has a strong impact on their livelihood, the fishing industry wants to be part of the discussions on the selection of areas allocated to other activities than fishing. Marine areas ...

Recruitment variability of marine fish is influenced by reproductive potential of the stock and the survival of early life stages, mediated by environmental conditions of both a physical (water temperature, salinity and oxygen conditions, ocean currents) and a biological nature (i.e. food, predators). To disentangle the effects of different drivers on recruitment variability, a spatially ...

Sprat currently constitutes the largest biomass and is one of the most important fish species in the food web of the open Baltic Sea. Present knowledge of sprat dynamics is largely based on a pronounced increase in biomass in the 1980s to a record high stock size in the mid-1990s, due to reduced cod predation and favourable temperature conditions for sprat reproduction. It is largely un ...

The Baltic Sea fish community is dominated by cod, sprat and herring and characterised by strong predator–prey interactions and feedback loops. Adult cod prey on sprat and herring, which, in return, feed on early life stages of cod. Predation on cod eggs by clupeids during a period of high sprat abundance in the 1990s is considered to have contributed to cod recruitment failure an ...

Vital rates during the early life history stages have a great influence on recruitment success of marine fish populations. Some of these characteristics (abundance, growth rate, survival and feeding behaviour) were studied in herring and non-commercial gobies Pomatoschistus spp. in the Gulf of Riga. External and internal ecosystem drivers, like hydroclimate and prey availability ...

Compared to commercial fish, there is relatively limited information available about the dynamics of non-commercial fish that very often play important structural and functional roles in marine ecosystems.

Long-term investigations that provide quantitative estimates of the population dynamics as a function of environmental variability are needed to understand the ecology and ...

Invasion of non-native species may pose significant impacts to native species and communities. The non-native predatory cladoceran Cercopagis pengoi is amongst the most widespread non-native species in the Baltic Sea. Ecological impact of Cercopagis pengoi was investigated 1) under laboratory conditions for feeding habits and dietary preferences, 2) by applying long-ter ...

Invasion of non-indigenous species is acknowledged as one of the most important external drivers affecting structure and functions of marine ecosystems globally. This paper offers literature based analysis on the ecological effects of the widespread (occurring in at least 50% of countries) and currently established NIS on ecosystem features in the Baltic Sea. In total, 18 widespread non ...

Invasions of non-indigenous species are acknowledged as one of the major threats to natural environments - terrestrial, freshwater and marine - having ecological, economic and social consequences. A recently adopted Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species, the EU Biodiversity Strat ...

Functional responses of juvenile herring and sprat in relation to different prey types
Planktivorous fish play a key role in the pelagic ecosystem as they have a marked impact upon their prey communities and are an important source of food for piscivorous predators. The intermediate trophic level can exert a major control on whole ecosystems, namely in upwelling regions1 and in the Baltic Sea with sprat and herring as dominant pelagic fish. Information on the relatio ...